1. I have Tourette's Syndrome.

2. I was once in the audience at the Academy Awards show.

(1) Tourette's syndrome. I checked Wikipedia to find this "Tourette's was once considered a rare and bizarre syndrome, most often associated with the exclamation of obscene words... however, this symptom is present in only a small minority of people with Tourette's.[1] Tourette's is no longer considered a rare condition,...the incidence may be as high as one in a hundred people, up to 530,000 U.S. school-age children may have Tourette's" Therefore there are millions of people who fit into this category. It's really no big deal.

(2) Now, the audience at the Academy Awards show. The theater that they have the Academy Awards probably holds a few thousand people, let's be generous and say 4,000. There have been 78 of them, so perhaps 300,000 or so people have had the honor of being present at such an affair. However (a) you're not 90 years old so not all of those events are appicable, and (b) a lot of the same faces show up at every single one, therefore you would be one of 100,000 people if that statement is true. Very classy -- but not unbelievable.

(3) Finally, distantly related to a serial killer. There have been many serial killers of the 20th century, sure many thousands of them when you include many common thugs. However for you to even be aware that you are related, it must have been one of the headline serial killers, of which there have only been a few hundred. "Distantly related" can include a very large extension of cousins, second cousins, and so forth--probably over 2000 people could be considered distantly related to just about anybody. Let's say there are 200 "famous" serial killers (famous enough anyhow), and 2000 people in their extended families, so that puts you in a group of 400,000 people. Nothing to be ashamed of.

1. The one in a hundred figure is arguable, but it's true that the incidence of the disease is far higher than most people realize.

2. This is actually ALMOST true. If you've ever watched the awards show, there is a disclaimer during the end credits that says no one is allowed to vote for the films in the Best Documentary category unless they attend special screenings set up by the Academy (because it's hard to see those movies any other way). Some years back I sneaked into one of those screenings. But no, I've never been to the Oscar ceremony itself, alas.

I was hoping to trick somebody (esp. my European or Canadian friends) into thinking that it would be a serious crime for me to not have it licensed--the fact is there is no such thing as a license for it in Florida, I couldn't have a license for it if I wanted to! Florida has "concealed carry permits" but that only applies to weapons which, you know, can be concealed. So mine was a very fair puzzle--it wasn't just a guessing game--there was some logic behind which one was a lie.

By the way, I'm not a "gun nut", I only know the basics, and it's only been fired once. Yes I do have way more ammo than I'll ever need, what can I say, I got it on sale ;-)

Why do I have it? It's a safety measure for the event of a complete breakdown of social order. Yes, these things happen, even in America. The police offer a very thin level of protection. When a real calamity occurs (a riot, a hurricane, even terrorism) police are unwilling—and moreover unable—to offer any real protection. I think of my rifle like the tire-jack in the trunk of my car. I don't want to use it, I hope I never need to use it, I certainly don't break it out on the weekend to play with it--but I sure sleep easier knowing that it's there if I need it.

three was too obvious. you were being sneaky by making it the obvious choice.

1. I shook Al Gore's hand. I'm tall but he towered over me.

2. I met Kasparov and had my picture taken with him. That time, I was doing the towering.

Anyhow, I'll use my statistical analysis again.

<1> People who shook Al Gores hand: several million. Hehe just kidding, but let's just say, A LOT.

<2> People who shook Kasparov's hand: several thousand. He's a pretty public character. The fact that you're into chess makes it all the more believable.

<3> People who rode a chair lift with Bridget Bardot: surely less than 100.

Now, Kasparov is 5'10'' (http://www.tall.org/clubs/ny/tcnyc/...) and Gore is 6'1'' (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330722/...).

There's a difference there of 3 inches. I don't see anyone towering over Kasparov and being towered by Gore, unless these events happened at different ages in the person's life so that they were different heights.

<Shams> seemingly moved a lot? (from his bio: Seattle -> Osaka -> San Francisco -> Seattle), so not too young? and shaking these people's hands should have happened post 1990, I think. So, I conclude Shams would have been the same height, so one of those two is the lie.

1. I am related to a US President

2. I won $5,500 once at a slot machine

<Sneaky> less than 100? You can easily ride a chairlift with 40 different people in a weekend. More, if you're riding in a gondola, as is common in Europe. Perhaps you think Briggite Bardot would have some sort of entourage and only ride up with the same people, which would make it less likely.

While I agree that statistics aren't the best way to parse out the game, for reasons that gangstaman gave-- I must say you got it right. As always, I should have worked harder on the lie.

I am just shy of 6'2" and Al Gore was taller than I. It seemed like he towered over me, but maybe that was just his famous charisma. :) he was definitely taller. And I think 5'10" is a shade generous for Gazza. Fortunately, I got my picture taken next to him, so I'll check the next time I go home to the folks'.

<2. I won $5,500 once at a slot machine> Every slot machine pays out its jackpot from time to time, and there are millions of slot machines, so there must be at least a million people who can make this claim.

<3. I once jumped from a second story balcony to go on a date> There can't be many people in the world THAT stupid. Surely less than 100.

2. My dad tried to kill a chicken by putting it in a burlap sack with a rock and tossing it off a bridge.

1. I once accidentally threw a javelin into some overhead powerlines, causing them to arc and blow up the street's transformer. The javelin was split into pieces, and all the while my brother was lying beneath the lines, but luckily emerged unharmed.

2. I once zapped myself through the fillings in my teeth. This happened at one of those laser gun places where teams try to shoot each other in a darkened maze. For some reason I was chewing on a recharger for one of the suits.